My Harbour Restaurant (Sandakan FoodieVenture #2)

So on to the next restaurant that I've been to while I was in Sandakan (yes, I'll try to go at it chronologically). And this time I promise I'll try harder to make my post as simple as possible (I blame it on my unnecessary rants)...

Since there isn't that many places to eat within the mall, me and my partner decided to venture out during our free time and since the hotel/mall was within the main town area, there's no shortage of restaurants, particularly the ones near the ocean. So our first pick was the My Harbour Restaurant and as you can see from the name, it's situated at the harbour side of Sandakan. We actually went there twice, once on the second night of our trip and on the last day. It's mainly because that it was the nearest one to the hotel/mall (that has got nothing to do with high end looking western cafe - no offense to the cafe nearby) and we're just that lazy to walk any further to find food. And it's also good to note here that their restaurant was the largest one within the harbour area.

On our first day, we'd ordered their Chicken Chop (a different take of the dish - and it actually works cuz it's surprisingly really good) and their Nasi Sambal Daging (my partner says that it's okay at best). We also ordered their Mee Hoon Goreng (Fried Vermicelli) and Fried Chicken Rice before we went back to Tawau and both dishes were again so-so in taste. There isn't much to comment about their food but I do need to highlight about their hygiene though, since their side of the floor was not properly cleaned especially at night (probably because patrons had been coming and going all day).

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Top 2 Corner (Sandakan FoodieVenture #1)

Like I've said before, I've stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel when I was in Sandakan for a few days and several of my posts after this will be dedicated to my so-called foodie adventure there. And yes, I'll try my hardest to keep it as simple as I can (or not).

I remember that it was already quite late when I finally arrived at the hotel from Tawau so I just decided to get something to bite nearby. And because I'm staying at a hotel that's attached to a mall, so I figure why not try something there right? There's bound to be food in a mall. Imagine my surprise when that's not to be! Apart from a McDonald's, there's nothing else around that resembles a place to eat. But I was pretty determined. I mean, surely there must be a food court somewhere that I do not know of? So I went to the info counter and after vaguely pointing me upwards, I decided to just ride the escalators to the top, to see whether I'll get lucky. And on the 4th floor, I did get lucky. Well, sort of anyway.

There's definitely a food court on the 4th floor at the Sandakan Harbour Mall, only that it was so deserted that I was speechless when I first discovered it. From what I've found out, the place has been opened since 2013 so I was surprised to see only one food stall available (not including the main drinks counter & sweets and cookies counter nearby). Geez, the rent must be ridiculously high for it to be that deserted huh? But anyways, I did try out the solo stall since there's no other options and I'm just ready to go to bed after I got a bite at something. So there I was ordering from the stall called Top 2 Corner, not thinking about anything else up until when I take a seat right in front of the stall to wait for my order and had a good look at the stall. There's a picture of a guy in a Masterchef Malaysia apron smiling on top of the stall and I was like 'heyyy... that guy looks suspiciously familiar...' and after a few minutes (yes, a few minutes) it suddenly occurred to me the meaning behind the stall's name. Top 2 Corner really means Top 2 in Masterchef Malaysia Season 1 so the stall is actually owned by Wahidan (the 1st runner up from Kinabatangan). I was a fan but before I got all excited, I was told by the cashier that he was not around for the day. Oh well, better luck next time...

The menu was actually pretty interesting as well. True to his preferred style of cooking, the menu are mainly Malay and Thai food, with a selection of Western menu and local kuihs also for sale. I decided to try out their Nasi Goreng Aroma while my dear partner (whom I've managed to dragged along with me) ordered the Nasi Pes Special. Yes, very unique names and the tastes was pretty good as well. Although I was made to understand that Wahidan's somewhat 'disciples' are the ones doing the cooking while he was away, it was still pretty delicious and with just the right amount of spices inside the dishes.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Outward Vacay: Four Points by Sheraton Hotel Sandakan

Exactly one week after my previous course at Semporna, I was yet again been 'ask' to go to another work related course in Sandakan, Sabah. After a minute worth of internal monologues that shall remain private (for now), I finally managed to dragged myself to the district by driving  a few hours from Tawau to Sandakan. I think it's my boss's way of 'cutting costs'. But since my boss promised me that the venue for this course is a so-called 'hotel with first class facilities' I relented (with a very sceptical thought of course - since the last time I went to Sandakan was when I was 10).

But thankfully this time around, he was right! An internationally renowned chained hotel managed by Starwood, the Four Points by Sheraton is a welcoming sight especially for somebody who'd just drove 5 hours non stop and in badly need of a comfortable place to crash. It's at the far end of the Sandakan's main town (as Sandakan is famous for its multiple towns) and is attached to the newly built Sandakan Harbour Mall, a somewhat high end mall in downtown Sandakan. Since it's at the heart of Sandakan, you'll find the place is surrounded by rows of old shops as well as a variety of local eateries nearby (yay!).

Now I'll try to keep my review as short as possible (or else I'll probably finished a novel by the time I'm done). Right from the start, their service were impeccable. The receptionists were really friendly and helpful. And I'm not just being polite here. I appreciate the fact that they actually remembered my name when I came back to inquire something from them the next day. The room was pretty good as well, what with its modern and elegant looking decor. It might be a tad small in size (as compared to other Starwood-managed hotel that I've been to before) but I still loved it. I got the Deluxe Room and I'm really happy with the partial sea view that I got from my window, since I love to see local people going on with their lives downtown. Unfortunately I did not have time to try out their restaurants (although I did visit their bakery/cafe - more on that later) since my 3 days course did not include food as well. I do however had stubbornly (I say stubbornly because I actually have limited time to spare and I decided to spend most of it there) wanted to try out their infinity pool (located on the 13th floor) and let me tell you, I kept going to the place every chance I get! The pool might not be huge but the view was just marvellous and very relaxing to watch, especially during sunset.  

A tip for anybody who're driving to the place - do use their very reliable valet parking. Since the parking spaces in front of the hotel are limited, you can just leave your keys with the valet and they will parked your car for you whenever a spot is available, with no charges at all. Or else you have to drive all the way to the 8th floor of the Harbour Mall (with 'nausea-tic' effect, believe me on this) and had to pay RM2 per entry just to park you own car as the hotel will not cover the cost if you parked there. And do be careful of your surroundings when sight-seeing in town especially at night since there seems to be a lot of local people 'lepaking' nearby all the time. There's even quite a few couples 'dating' at the sides of the hotel. 

For the ratings however...

Type - Deluxe Room
Room - 4/5 (the view was just breathtaking) 

Price - 4/5 (a bit pricey but you get want you'd paid for) 

Service - 4/5 (kudos to their well trained staff - especially their receptionists & valets) 

Decor - 4/5 (very modern and elegant looking)

Facilities - 5/5 (their infinity pool is a must try - the view's just spectacular!) 

Location - 4/5 (easy to spot but with confusing roads leading to the place) 

P/S: Sorry for the excessive picture taking (see below) as I got over excited snapping up pictures around the hotel ;-) 

These pictures are of the hotel's exterior & their lobby (or lobbies to be exact). Their reception area is on the first floor so you need to use the escalators to get there from the main entrance. 

This batch of pictures are of their room & its lovely view (mine's a partial view of the city & sea)

And these are pictures of their enjoyable infinity pool & its downtown Sandakan view

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Floating Restaurant (Semporna FoodieVenture #2)

Like I've said on my previous post, limited time equals limited materials. With my limited time in Semporna, I only manage to visit just one restaurant (yes, I'm frustrated myself) and it also happens to be the nearest to the hotel I'm staying there. So here I present to you the Floating Restaurant (aka Pearl City Restaurant). And no, I did not just made up the name, it's actually printed at the front of their menu (see below pictures).

I don't blame you if you're imagining a restaurant that's floating in mid air or something (heck, I'll probably will) but it's actually a very pretty little chalet inspired place on the shores of Semporna. The restaurant is situated not far from the town's jetty and it's within the Semporna Ocean Tourism Centre. I do recommend you to visit the latter, since it's a major tourist attraction (what with its restaurant, handicraft shops, sea creatures exhibit and chalets-for-rent collectively called Dragon Inn - and all within the area of the tourism centre).

Now onto the good stuff. Honestly, I didn't even know that there's a restaurant inside the vicinity. Me and a colleague were just walking around the area when we stumble upon what seems to be a restaurant resembling one of those old Chinese movies (you know, the one where the kung-fu hero makes a dramatic entrance before sending the bad guys flying - along with all the wooden chairs and tables nearby). Upon seeing the place, all logic says that the place must be expensive (hey, it looks like a expensive place to me) but my instinct still wants to go and try out the place. And yes, it is quite on the expensive side when we were given the menu but since we're already sitting down, we might as well try some food. We ordered their Fried Rice with Crab Meat (for my friend) as well as the Floating Restaurant Special Fried Mee Hoon (Fried Vermicelli). When our ordered came I was a bit disappointed because at first glance, the food looks uninteresting. I was thinking of giving a negative review should the food taste bad as well but lo and behold, I was proven wrong. The food were delicious and very satisfying. My colleague was very happy with hers since it contains actual crab meat (as oppose to one of those cheap crab sticks). Mine was also not too oily and the taste was just right, with lots of ingredients inside.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Lepa Cafe (Semporna FoodieVenture #1)

Since the course that I've attended at Semporna was very short (only 2 days) and it's pretty jammed-packed, I do not have time to really explore the town as much as I'd liked. So do forgive me for not to being able to give you more reviews on the foodies in Semporna.

Now one such places that I would like to review was the Lepa Cafe. Situated at the ground floor of the hotel I'm staying at (yes, I'm that desperate for some foodie reviews), I got to try out their breakfast buffet since it's included with my stay there. Again, I've read not so favourable things about said buffet from Tripadvisor (it's like my go to reference site for places unknown) so I got a somewhat low expectation going to it. But then on a recent look, I've realise that most of those kind of reviews were from foreign tourists that are maybe not as adventurous to try out local dishes as others. Because quite frankly I was baffled coming into breakfast (that never happen to me before). The selection was quite big and there's a lot of things available there that I did not expected at all such as not so common local kuihs, heavy duty dishes such as grilled local fish (I know, and it's only breakfast) and the unique fried egg bread (yes, they fried the egg and bread together). All in all, if you're an Asian, you'll probably appreciate the local flavoured buffet more than the Europeans for example. Even the fruits are geared more towards the local variety. But there's also the usual cereals, American breakfasts and an omelette station available so I assure you that you won't starve at breakfast. 

• 
• 
• 
• 
•